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f155a01
update: Update iOS Overview for iOS 26
friadev Sep 16, 2025
53cf8dc
change Siri and search to just siri
friadev Sep 16, 2025
559ccb8
update terminology in face id and touch id
friadev Sep 16, 2025
02c53ea
remove find my from stolen device protection as it doesn't have anyth…
friadev Sep 16, 2025
d9a6799
update stolen device protection setting
friadev Sep 16, 2025
b74e479
update lock screen access
friadev Sep 16, 2025
6599ab7
update analytics
friadev Sep 16, 2025
659aadd
add contact key verification
friadev Sep 16, 2025
7d92e42
Merge branch 'main' into iOS-26
friadev Sep 16, 2025
e880798
add contact key verification link
friadev Sep 16, 2025
30c3e93
add automatic reboot
friadev Sep 16, 2025
ad55031
add mte
friadev Sep 16, 2025
3013e4e
wording
friadev Sep 16, 2025
7e63195
add arm MTE link
friadev Sep 16, 2025
791b53a
update screenshots
friadev Sep 16, 2025
efcb497
remove position instrucitons since they're not accurate for every device
friadev Sep 16, 2025
a04ade0
add guided access
friadev Sep 16, 2025
598052b
add wired accessories setting
friadev Sep 16, 2025
3d55422
add warning about guided access
friadev Sep 16, 2025
ca1ffee
add more apple intelligence detail
friadev Sep 17, 2025
a66afb2
add colon
friadev Sep 17, 2025
5b22d6b
Apply minor suggestions from code review
redoomed1 Sep 17, 2025
48b32ec
wording
friadev Sep 17, 2025
642fc5e
style: Simply lock screen suggestions and analytics suggestions
redoomed1 Sep 17, 2025
ebbaaa2
Wording
friadev Sep 17, 2025
c97890b
Wording
friadev Sep 17, 2025
81f6b72
Apply suggestions from code review by @friadev and @jordan-warne
redoomed1 Sep 17, 2025
1ca0549
style: Fix annotation syntax
redoomed1 Sep 17, 2025
7ea8c13
add more guided access detail
friadev Sep 17, 2025
83140aa
Apply minor suggestion from code review
redoomed1 Sep 17, 2025
1dae341
wording
friadev Sep 20, 2025
3110604
link to pg article
friadev Sep 22, 2025
6431a16
Merge branch 'privacyguides:main' into iOS-26
friadev Nov 4, 2025
26b05bc
add chatgpt info
friadev Nov 4, 2025
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92 changes: 55 additions & 37 deletions docs/os/ios-overview.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -98,11 +98,9 @@ Note that Bluetooth is automatically turned on after every system update.

Your iPhone's device name will by default contain your first name, and this will be visible to anyone on networks you connect to. You should change this to something more generic, like "iPhone." Select **About** → **Name** and enter the device name you prefer.

It is important to install **Software Updates** frequently to get the latest security fixes. You can enable **Automatic Updates** to keep your phone up-to-date without needing to constantly check for updates. Select **Software Update** → **Automatic Updates**:
It is important to install software updates frequently to get the latest security fixes. You can enable automatic updates to keep your phone up-to-date without needing to constantly check for updates. Select **Software Update** → **Automatic Updates**:

- [x] Turn on **Download iOS Updates**
- [x] Turn on **Install iOS Updates**
- [x] Turn on **Security Responses & System Files**
- [x] Turn on **Automatically Install**

**AirDrop** is commonly used to easily share files, but it represents a significant privacy risk. The AirDrop protocol constantly broadcasts your personal information to your surroundings, with [very weak](https://usenix.org/system/files/sec21-heinrich.pdf) security protections. Your identity can easily be discovered by attackers even with limited resources, and the Chinese government has [openly acknowledged](https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/01/hackers-can-id-unique-apple-airdrop-users-chinese-authorities-claim-to-do-just-that) using such techniques to identify AirDrop users in public since 2022.

Expand All @@ -116,7 +114,19 @@ It is important to install **Software Updates** frequently to get the latest sec

Select **Background App Refresh** and switch off any apps you don't want to continue refreshing in the background. If you don't want any apps to refresh in the background, you can select **Background App Refresh** again and turn it **Off**.

#### Siri & Search
#### Apple Intelligence & Siri

This is available if your device supports **[Apple Intelligence](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/apple-intelligence-and-privacy-iphe3f499e0e/ios)**. Apple Intelligence uses a combination of on-device processing and their **[Private Cloud Compute](https://security.apple.com/blog/private-cloud-compute)** for things that take more processing power than your device can provide.

To see a report of all the requests made to Apple's servers, you can navigate to **Privacy & Security** → **Apple Intelligence Report** and press **Export Activity** to see activity from the either the last 15 minutes or 7 days, depending on what you set it for. Similar to the **App Privacy Report** which shows you the recent permissions accessed by the apps on your phone, the Apple Intelligence Report likewise shows what is being sent to Apple's servers while using Apple Intelligence.

By default, Apple Intelligence integrates with ChatGPT. If you don't want ChatGPT integration, you can navigate to **ChatGPT**:

- [ ] Turn off **Use ChatGPT**

You can also have it ask for confirmation every time if you leave ChatGPT integration on:

- [x] Turn on **Confirm Requests**
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My settings look like this:

image

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I guess it’s different if you already enabled it, that’s frustrating.

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I changed the wording let me know if it’s better.


If you don't want anyone to be able to control your phone with Siri when it is locked, you can turn that off here.

Expand All @@ -130,28 +140,17 @@ Select **Turn Passcode On** or **Change Passcode** → **Passcode Options** →

If you wish to use Face ID or Touch ID, you can go ahead and set it up now. Your phone will use the password you set up earlier as a fallback in case your biometric verification fails. Biometric unlock methods are primarily a convenience, although they do stop surveillance cameras or people over your shoulder from watching you input your passcode.

If you use biometrics, you should know how to turn them off quickly in an emergency. Holding down the side or power button and *either* volume button until you see the Slide to Power Off slider will disable biometrics, requiring your passcode to unlock. Your passcode will also be required after device restarts.
If you use biometrics, you should know how to turn them off quickly in an emergency. Holding down the [side button](https://support.apple.com/en-us/105103) and *either* volume button until you see the Slide to Power Off slider will disable biometrics, requiring your passcode to unlock. Your passcode will be required after your device restarts.

On some older devices, you may have to press the power button five times to disable biometrics instead, or for devices with Touch ID, you may just have to hold down the power button and nothing else. Make sure you try this in advance, so you know which method works for your device.
You can similarly disable biometrics by pressing the side button five times, or for devices with Touch ID, you can hold down the side button and nothing else. Make sure you try this in advance, so you know which method works for your device.

**Stolen Device Protection** adds additional security intended to protect your personal data if your device is stolen while unlocked. If you use biometrics and the Find My Device feature in your Apple Account settings, we recommend enabling this new protection:
**Stolen Device Protection** adds additional security intended to protect your personal data if your device is stolen while unlocked. If you use biometrics, we recommend enabling this protection:

- [x] Select **Turn On Protection**
- [x] Turn on **Stolen Device Protection**

After enabling Stolen Device Protection, [certain actions](https://support.apple.com/HT212510) will require biometric authentication without a password fallback (in the event that a shoulder surfer has obtained your PIN), such as using password autofill, accessing payment information, and disabling Lost Mode. It also adds a security delay to certain actions performed away from your home or another "familiar location," such as requiring a 1-hour timer to reset your Apple Account password or sign out of your Apple Account. This delay is intended to give you time to enable Lost Mode and secure your account before a thief can reset your device.

**Allow Access When Locked** gives you options for what you can allow when your phone is locked. The more of these options you disable, the less someone without your password can do, but the less convenient it will be for you. Pick and choose which of these you don't want someone to have access to if they get their hands on your phone.

- [ ] Turn off **Today View and Search**
- [ ] Turn off **Notification Center**
- [ ] Turn off **Control Center**
- [ ] Turn off **Lock Screen Widgets**
- [ ] Turn off **Siri**
- [ ] Turn off **Reply with Message**
- [ ] Turn off **Home Control**
- [ ] Turn off **Wallet**
- [ ] Turn off **Return Missed Calls**
- [ ] Turn off **USB Accessories**
**Allow Access When Locked** presents options for what you can allow when your phone is locked. Pick and choose which feature you want to disable to prevent unauthorized access if someone gets their hands on your phone. The more of these options you disable, the less someone without your password can do, but the less convenient it will be for you.

iPhones are already resistant to brute-force attacks by making you wait long periods of time after multiple failed attempts; however, there have historically been exploits to get around this. To be extra safe, you can set your phone to wipe itself after 10 failed passcode attempts.

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -186,17 +185,9 @@ You should turn off **Research Sensor & Usage Data** if you don't wish to partic

- [ ] Turn off **Sensor & Usage Data Collection**

**Safety Check** allows you to quickly view and revoke certain people and apps that might have permission to access your data. Here you can perform an **Emergency Reset**, immediately resetting permissions for all people and apps which might have access to device resources. You can also **Manage Sharing & Access** which allows you to go through and customize who and what has access to your device and account resources.

You should disable analytics if you don't wish to send Apple usage data. Select **Analytics & Improvements**:
**[Safety Check](https://support.apple.com/guide/personal-safety/safety-check-iphone-ios-16-ips2aad835e1/1.0/web/1.0)** allows you to quickly view and revoke certain people and apps that might have permission to access your data. Here, you can perform an **Emergency Reset**, immediately resetting permissions for all people and apps which might have access to device resources. You can also **Manage Sharing & Access**, which allows you to review and customize who and what has access to your device and account resources. If you're in an abusive situation, read Apple's [Personal Safety User Guide](https://support.apple.com/guide/personal-safety/welcome/web) for guidance on what you should do.

- [ ] Turn off **Share iPhone Analytics** or **Share iPhone & Watch Analytics**
- [ ] Turn off **Share iCloud Analytics**
- [ ] Turn off **Improve Fitness+**
- [ ] Turn off **Improve Safety**
- [ ] Turn off **Improve Siri & Dictation**
- [ ] Turn off **Improve Assistive Voice Features**
- [ ] Turn off **Improve AR Location Accuracy**
You should disable analytics if you don't wish to send usage data to Apple. Select **Analytics & Improvements** and unselect the type(s) of analytics that you don't want to send to Apple.

Disable **Personalized Ads** if you don't want targeted ads. Select **Apple Advertising**:

Expand All @@ -206,7 +197,11 @@ Disable **Personalized Ads** if you don't want targeted ads. Select **Apple Adve

- [x] Select **Turn On App Privacy Report**

[Lockdown Mode](https://blog.privacyguides.org/2022/10/27/macos-ventura-privacy-security-updates/#lockdown-mode) is a security setting you can enable to make your phone more resistant to attacks. Be aware that certain apps and features [won't work](https://support.apple.com/HT212650) as they do normally.
Set wired accessories to ask for permission when you connect them. Select **Wired Accessories**:

- [x] Select **Always Ask** or **Ask for New Accessories**

**[Lockdown Mode](https://blog.privacyguides.org/2022/10/27/macos-ventura-privacy-security-updates/#lockdown-mode)** is a security setting you can enable to make your phone more resistant to attacks. Be aware that certain apps and features [won't work](https://support.apple.com/HT212650) as they do normally.

- [x] Select **Turn On Lockdown Mode**

Expand All @@ -220,7 +215,13 @@ Normal phone calls made with the Phone app through your carrier are not E2EE. Bo

The [color of the message bubble](https://support.apple.com/en-us/104972) in the Messages app indicates whether your messages are E2EE or not. A blue bubble indicates that you're using iMessage with E2EE, while a green bubble indicates the other party is using either the outdated SMS and MMS protocols or RCS. RCS on iOS is **not** E2EE. Currently, the only way to have E2EE in Messages is for both parties to be using iMessage on Apple devices.

If either you or your messaging partner have iCloud Backup enabled without Advanced Data Protection, the encryption key will be stored on Apple's servers, meaning they can access your messages. Additionally, iMessage's key exchange is not as secure as alternative implementations like Signal's (which allows you to view the recipients key and verify by QR code), so it shouldn't be relied on for particularly sensitive communications.
If either you or your messaging partner have iCloud Backup enabled without Advanced Data Protection, the encryption key will be stored on Apple's servers, meaning they can access your messages.

By default, you trust Apple's identity servers that you're messaging the right person. Enable **[Contact Key Verification](https://support.apple.com/en-us/118246)** to combat this. At the top of the settings screen where your name is, select it. Navigate to **Contact Key Verification**.

- [x] Turn on **Verification in iMessage**

Follow Apple's [instructions](https://support.apple.com/en-us/118246#verify) to verify your contacts (they also need to enable Contact Key Verification).

### Photo Permissions

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -250,23 +251,34 @@ In addition to locking apps behind biometrics, you can also hide apps so that th

You can hide an app by long-pressing on it and selecting **Require Face ID/Touch ID** → **Hide and Require Face ID/Touch ID**. Note that pre-installed Apple apps, as well as the default web browser and email app, cannot be hidden. Hidden apps reside in a **Hidden** folder at the bottom of the App Library, which can be unlocked using biometrics. This folder appears in the App Library whether you hid any apps or not, which provides you a degree of plausible deniability.

### Guided Access

Sometimes you might want to hand your phone to someone to make a call or do a specific task, but you don't want them to have full access to your phone. In these cases, you can quickly enable **[Guided Access](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/lock-iphone-to-one-app-iph7fad0d10/ios)** to lock the phone to one specific app until you authenticate.

<div class="admonition warning" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Warning</p>

Guided Access isn't foolproof, it's possible you could leak data you don't intend to or it could be bypassed.

</div>

### Redacting Elements in Images

If you need to hide information in a photo, you can use Apple's built-in editing tools to do so.

If your device supports it, you can use the [Clean Up](https://support.apple.com/en-us/121429) feature to pixelate faces or remove objects from images.
You can use the [Clean Up](https://support.apple.com/en-us/121429) feature on supported devices to pixelate faces or remove objects from images.

- Open the **Photos** app and tap the photo you have selected for redaction
- Tap the :material-tune: (at the bottom of the screen)
- Tap the :material-tune:
- Tap the button labeled **Clean Up**
- Draw a circle around whatever you want to redact. Faces will be pixelated, and it will attempt to delete anything else.

Our warning [against blurring text](../data-redaction.md) also applies here, so we recommend to instead add a black shape with 100% opacity over it. In addition to redacting text, you can also black out any face or object using the **Photos** app.

- Tap the image you have selected for redaction
- Tap the :material-tune: (at the bottom of the screen) → markup symbol (top right) → plus icon at the bottom right
- Tap the :material-tune: → markup symbol → plus icon
- Select **Add Shape** and choose the square or circle
- On the toolbar, tap the circle (left-most option) and choose black as the color for filling in the shape. You can also move the shape and increase its size as you see fit.
- On the toolbar, tap the circle and choose black as the color for filling in the shape. You can also move the shape and increase its size as you see fit.

**Don't** use the highlighter to obfuscate information, as its opacity is not quite 100%.

Expand All @@ -283,3 +295,9 @@ Apple always makes beta versions of iOS available early for those that wish to h
### Before First Unlock

If your threat model includes [:material-target-account: Targeted Attacks](../basics/common-threats.md#attacks-against-specific-individuals){ .pg-red } that involve forensic tools, and you want to minimize the chance of exploits being used to access your phone, you should restart your device frequently. The state *after* a reboot but *before* unlocking your device is referred to as "Before First Unlock" (BFU), and when your device is in that state it makes it [significantly more difficult](https://belkasoft.com/checkm8_glossary) for forensic tools to exploit vulnerabilities to access your data. This BFU state allows you to receive notifications for calls, texts, and alarms, but most of the data on your device is still encrypted and inaccessible. This can be impractical, so consider whether these trade-offs make sense for your situation.

iPhones [automatically reboot](https://support.apple.com/guide/security/protecting-user-data-in-the-face-of-attack-secf5549a4f5/1/web/1#:~:text=On%20an%20iPhone%20or%20iPad%20with%20iOS%2018%20and%20iPadOS%2018%20or%20later%2C%20a%20new%20security%20protection%20will%20restart%20devices%20if%20they%20remain%20locked%20for%20a%20prolonged%20period%20of%20time.) if they're not unlocked after a period of time.

### MTE

iPhone 17 and later offer a security enhancement called [Memory Tagging Extension](https://developer.arm.com/documentation/108035/0100/Introduction-to-the-Memory-Tagging-Extension) (MTE) which helps prevent memory bugs and makes exploiting the device significantly harder. This protection is always on, but it's dependent on hardware so it's not available to older devices. You can read more about it on their [blog post](https://security.apple.com/blog/memory-integrity-enforcement/).
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